Of Sunflowers and Belladonnas
by justanotherpalace
Summary: Blake Belladonna couldn't be more in love with her best friend, Yang Xiao Long. Yang Xiao Long has always loved Blake Belladonna. And now they're running out of time.
1. prologue

She clutched the other girl's hand, pleading with her. It pained her - and it worsened her condition - seeing her lying here, on her bed. She refused to go to a hospital, she refused to get the surgery, and she refused to believe her.

"Please, I'm not," she covered her mouth to stifle a cough. "I'm not lying to you! I truly love you, and if you'd just believe me -!"

The other girl just laughed.

"I didn't you would stoop this far just to try and save me. This hurts more, all the lies. You wouldn't know, you don't understand how hard it is to be hacking up," she turned her head to the side and coughed harshly for a few seconds before dry heaving a little and spitting out three petals of an amaryllis lily, spots of pinkish mucus decorating the flowers, before turning back to the girl. "Flowers that constantly remind you of the one person you can't have."

The other girl shook her head furiously, desperate to make the girl understand. She coughs lightly into her hand before wiping it on the back of her whitewashed jeans.

"Please, just believe me! Why would I lie to you about this?! I know how you feel, and what good would it do me to lie? All it would do is worsen o-!" she paused again, clearing her throat and swallowing hard.

"I don't want to lose you."

The other girl just stared.

"I've always loved you," she closed her eyes and pulled her hand out of the other girl's grasp and turned to her side, coughing weakly. It was obvious this particular conversation was over.

The girl standing sighed, and turned away, but not before placing a small kiss on the side of the laying girls head.

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again, until you believe me, I love you."

She let out a shaky breath and turned away, walking hunched over, as if in pain. When the laying girl heard the door click open, she shifted and tilted her head slightly over her shoulder to watch the girl walk away. She couldn't help it.

And her heart froze.

As the door swung shut behind her, the laying girl saw on the back of her jeans a couple streaks of blood, and a few helianthus petals stuck to her jeans.

She really did know.

She tried to call out to her, but a coughing fit took over, and by the time she managed to spit out a small amaryllis bud, the other girl was gone.


	2. chapter one

Yang woke up and stared at her ceiling for a solid ten minutes before rolling to the side and crawling out of her comfy bed.

As she went through her morning routine - which consisted of washing her face, brushing her teeth, and undoing the bun or braid she'd thrown her hair in the night before - she did her best to remember if she had made any plans for today, while simultaneously trying to pick out an outfit for said occasion. She suddenly remembered she'd made plans with Weiss and Blake to go eat brunch and her heart hammered a bit just thinking about the ravenette. She finished up her routine and applied some foundation, concealer, eyeliner, and a dab of mascara to her already long and curly eyelashes.

She stepped back to observe her handiwork, and after giving it a thumbs up, walked back into her room to finally figure out an outfit for the day.

She stepped into her moderately sized closet and started searching through her hangers for something that was cute and a bit fancy, but not overboard. She'd had a huge crush on Blake ever since Weiss had brought her over once when Ruby invited them to a dinner party. She groaned at the memory, remembering how she'd called Blake Weiss, thinking that she was the girl her sister had been raving about for the past few weeks.

Then Blake had corrected her and pointed out Weiss, who by then had already walked over to Ruby and engaged her in conversation. Yang blushed furiously, and apologized profusely and tried to brush it off, but Blake said it was fine before laughing at her mistake.

They had chatted it up for the rest of the night, while the girl Yang now knew was Weiss kept shooting her weird looks. Yang felt a little uncomfortable but planned to talk to her about it afterwards.

She didn't need too.

In a moment where Blake disappeared for the restroom, Weiss appeared next to her and bombarded her with questions such as, "Who are you? What have you two been discussing? What are your motives?"

Yang answered the questions to the best of her ability, confused as to where this was all coming from, but answered them nonetheless.

Yang snapped out of it and decided to wear the same outfit she wore that day, a simple halter white top with a orange ascot around her neck with high waisted orange jeans that matched her ascot. She finished it off with a few accessories, a matte black belt, black wedges, a gold bracelet around each wrist, and her signature aviator sunglasses. She took a look at the time and decided to try and clean up her apartment a bit before leaving, since she did have a bit of time, and there was no way her little sister Ruby was going to do it. Even though they technically shared the apartment, Ruby had lately been spending her nights in the room upstairs from the florist shop she owned where she worked designing various types of things that involved flowers. Some involved some serious architecture to stand upright, and that's what Ruby spent most her late nights on. That or her girlfriend, Weiss Schnee. Yang checked the time and saw she had to get going if she was going to make it on time.

She looked in the mirror one more time to gauge whether her outfit was too little or just right. Most people would have thought her outfit was a bit much but she wore it because not only did she want to impress, Weiss was picking the location, so it probably wasn't jean and t-shirt appropriate.

Yang grabbed her gold chain and leather crossbody and placed her phone and wallet inside and stepped outside her apartment after sending one last look at the clock.

She made her way to her sunflower yellow car and quickly took of towards her destination. As she waited at a light, her thoughts drifted to Blake once again.

The girl had almost cast a spell on her, and she couldn't keep herself from falling. Yang thought back to all the times they had hung out since they first met at Ruby's party. All the little stories they'd shared, little - and big - secrets they'd told each other. Blake had told her things she hadn't told other people and vice versa. She had to thank Ruby for that dinner party later, making Weiss bring a friend. And Weiss for picking Blake to bring along.

The light turned green and Yang moved along, and was about two minutes out when she was hit with a sharp chest pain. She pressed her left hand to her chest, shocked and confused as to where the pain was originating from. The sudden urge to cough overwhelms her and it gets so bad she pulls over to the side of the road, her vision blurry from unshed tears. She covers her mouth with the handkerchief Weiss always made her carry and after a few minutes of coughing and dry heaving, she finally spits out what she felt in her throat.

And all life and color is replaced with dread.

In the hankie, surrounded by pieces of leaves, covered in mucus, with little drops of blood on it - was a crumpled purple amaryllis lily.

Yang's breathing gets heavier when she realizes what this means and quickly throws the flower out of the window and pulling out her phone and turning to the front facing camera, makes sure no traces of her incident are apparent. She tidied herself up as best she could, and got back on the road and continued driving to her destination, her mind in turmoil.

She finally made it to the café and hurried inside, knowing full well she's late and Weiss will undoubtably question it. And Blake, the girl was a busy person, being manager to several high profile people. She'd fought for this occasion, just to see her, and no, she couldn't say it was for Weiss, since Blake and Weiss lived together.

Spotting them in a corner booth near the back and almost practically hidden from view, Yang let out a sigh and composed herself before walking over, her usual sexy gait back in place. She quickly took a seat next to Blake, who jumped slightly, having been so engrossed in her conversation with Weiss. The woman looked breathtaking, dressed in a purple blouse that hugged her bust before flowing until it got tucked into a pastel yellow pencil skirt to which she added some black stilettos. For accessories she wore a simple gold necklace with a delicate lily at the center, and her earrings were small gold studs and she carried a medium sized purse. Weiss also looked fantastic, though nowhere near as fantastic as Blake did. She was wearing a pair of high waisted white slacks with a red halter top that made her bust look larger than it was, and paired her outfit with white Louboutins and her accessories consisted of simple silver earrings with a ruby at the top, and her hair was in a bun tail, pinned up by her signature silver tiara and she carried a clutch.

The three quickly fell into conversation, with occasional pauses when Yang would cough into her hankie, or clear her throat harshly. Yang clutched her crossbody tightly to help dissuade the urges to cough and to keep from grabbing Blake unintentionally. They ordered off the menu, not being too choosy, seeing as all this was courtesy of Weiss, who certainly had the money to pay for it.

She ordered for herself an omelette stuffed with mushrooms and some fruit on the side, with her drink being a tall glass of mineral water. Blake ordered next, her order being an everything bagel topped with an exceptionally large serving of lox with a small salad on the side, her drink being a tall glass of iced tea. Weiss ordered last, her order being a medium sized fruit bowl with all sorts. Some fruits Yang knew and others she did not. Like, what on earth was guava? It looked like an oversized yellow grape.

After their order came, they paused their conversation to eat, and after a few bites of the delicious meal, Yang once again was hit with the same feeling she had gotten when she was in the car on her way here. She quickly excused herself and made her way to the bathroom, barely containing herself until she had ducked into the farthest stall from the door. Once inside the stall, she coughed and coughed, choking and gagging until she finally spit out a total of two leaves, four petals, and three small buds.

Once again the same purple amaryllis lily.

She cleaned herself up, and managed to catch herself from wiping her fingers from the pinkish bile she'd coughed up on her clothes. She exited the stall, making sure to flush away the evidence of her fit. She knew deep down what illness now ailed her, and she also knew she didn't have much options. She wasn't gonna go for the surgery, she didn't want to die, but the last option...

The last option was completely out of her control.

After rinsing her mouth several times to rid herself of the taste of vomit, she slipped her hand into the crossbody she refused to take off, and pulled out a small perfume bottle. After spritzing her neck and a little bit on her wrists, she deemed herself presentable and walked back out towards the table with the other women. Weiss raised an eyebrow and Yang shrugged it off, but she could tell she wasn't convinced. Blake on the other hand, was standing by the booth, a face of anguish on her face.

"Are you alright? Yang, you ran off and you were choking I was worried - oh! Do you need some water?" Blake rambled on and on and Yang lifted a finger and delicately placed it on Blake's lips, instantly shushing her. Blake's eyes grew wide and her face flushed and Yang felt her chest tighten again.

This was going to be a pain.

She coughed lightly and a little bit of bloody spit landed on Blake's shoulder. Yang flinched, but luckily Blake wasn't wearing white so it wasn't super noticeable.

She hugged Blake and told her repeatedly, "Hey, hey I'm fine, my food just went down the wrong pipe. Don't worry your pretty head about it, hm?"

If it was possible Blake blushed even harder at those words. Weiss coughed lightly from the table to get their attention. Both women smiled sheepishly while taking their seats and continuing on with the meal.

Throughout the next couple hours the three spent there, they talked about a range of different things while taking bites of their food. Yang excused herself to the bathroom seven times in that period, where she would hack up amaryllis buds, leaves, petals, stem pieces, and sometimes a crumpled flower.

The trips and constant coughing and dry heaving were beginning to get to her and there was only so much she could take in one day. She knew there was no way she could use the "food went down the wrong pipe excuse," again, and she also couldn't use the "I'm on my period and bleeding heavily," excuse. All she could do was hope the other two women didn't ask.

After a particularly nasty trip to the restroom for the eighth time, the three finally decided to part ways for the day. Weiss quickly gathered her things and said she had a meeting and then a dinner date with Ruby. Then she turned to Blake and said,

"Don't panic or wait up. I'll probably stay over at her house tonight, if that's alright?"

Blake nodded quickly, her left hand cupped in front of her, almost like she was holding something. "Yeah, no, no worries, Weiss! You deserve to go out with your girl, not babysitting me at home. Live your life!"

Weiss looked at Blake sadly and pulled the girl in for a hug.

"Practice what you preach, darling."

And with that she was gone. After a few tense seconds, Blake let out a huff and turned towards Yang.

"Hi um, I know you probably have plans and weren't really planning to hang out with me after this, but Weiss just took the car we both came in, so, if it's not too much of a bother of course, can you drop me off at my house please?"

Yang looked at Blake's face and wondered how on earth anyone could say no to those bright, happy, hazel eyes and quirky half-smile Blake sported. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak and motioned for Blake to follow her to the car. Once they reached it, Yang walked around to the passenger door and quickly opened it and held it open while Blake flushed and muttered a polite "thank you," while trying to keep her skirt down and get into the vehicle. Once situated, Yang closed the door and walked around over to the drivers side.

She got in and turned the car on, then realized she had no idea where Weiss and Blake lived. She turned towards Blake who quickly looked away, embarrassed at being caught staring.

"Can I have your address? It's no big deal to drop you off, most of my work is done anyway."

Of course, most of her work wasn't done, but she wasn't actually going to tell Blake that, was she? No, not at all.

Blake started telling her the address while she punched it into her phone, waiting for the little device to tell her where she should go. After she pressed go, it started speaking in its monotone little robotic voice and off they went.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Blake called her name, startling her.

"Hey, Yang? This might be personal but, do you have hanah- !" Yang immediately interrupted, not wanting to hear the word that would bring the reality of the disease crashing down on her.

"That is a bit personal, kitten," she shifted in her seat, doing her best to sound playful and not upset and surprised that Blake had hit the nail right in the head. "First, take me out to dinner before we start getting into each others heads."

Blake stammered out a "B-but -!" but Yang just shook her head. She wasn't going to lie to her she knew full well she had the disease, but was about to tell Blake that? No, no she wasn't.

Blake turns in her seat to look out the window and refused to talk the rest of the ride, something that on a separate occasion would have bothered Yang, but right now, she didn't trust herself to speak, what with the flowers and all.

Yang finally pulls up to a large house - more like a mansion - and exited the car before going over to the passenger door and helping Blake out. She nodded out of courtesy, but kept her face averted. She started walking up the steps and Yang started back towards her car, when Blake called out to her.

"Yang!"

She turned at the call, unsure of what else to do.

"Yeah? Is there som-!"

Blake had come careening down the front steps and enveloped her in a hug, burying her face in her shoulder while Yang stood frozen, her heart rate skyrocketing. She immediately burst into a coughing fit, and luckily it subsided quickly, but not before she spit out a couple amaryllis buds. She saw one of them hit the ground and was relieved. Yang didn't notice one of the buds had gotten tangled in her own curls, and Blake pulled away and covered the bud on the floor with her heel before the fact only one bud hit the floor registered in Yang's head.

"Go on, I'll wave goodbye."

Yang got back into her car and drove away slowly, casting glances at her rearview mirror to where Blake stood, waving, just like she said she would.

It wasn't that bad of a day overall.

Blake waved until Yang had turned the corner and was well out of sight before moving her foot and bending over and picking up the small bud. Her free hand clutched her chest, and she couldn't think of what to do. What would Weiss do? She was the one that had always helped her when she was stuck in tight situations, always did the talking in business deals, had always been the best when working under pressure.

Maybe she should just call her. Weiss could also tell Ruby to keep an eye out to see if any flowers ended up in the garbage that she didn't throw away. She stood up straight and made her way inside, fumbling around in her purse for her notebook. Opening it, she compared the flower petal she had grabbed earlier when Yang left for one of her many bathroom visits and it had fallen from her hair.

She knew what it was but she couldn't bring herself to face it.

She'd already lost so many to this disease, why did she have to keep on losing?

Why couldn't she just be happy?

After entering her room and depositing her belongings on her bed and beginning to shed her outfit, she madd up her mind and dialed Weiss, knowing the girl would be livid she was interrupting her date but it was the only thing she could come up with.

Placing the phone on speaker and chucking it on her bed, she carefully removed her earrings and necklace, careful not to get any of it stuck in her hair.

That would be a pain.

"Why on earth are you calling? Is the house on fore? Is there something wrong? Are you okay? Did you fa-!" At this point Ruby interrupted Weiss rant and Blake couldn't help but smile. They really were meant for each other.

"Hey Blake! What's up? What gives me and Weiss the pleasure of hearing your voice today?"

Blake paused mid zipper on her skirt, doubting herself. What if she was just jumping to conclusions? She had been known to do that before...

"Well? We were kind of busy here, so if you just called to waste time, I'm going to hang up Blake. There's food in the fridge and don't forget to take your medicine."

"Wait! Um...hanahaki!"

Blake groaned audibly, this was not how she thought this was going to go. Why, oh why, could she never speak properly in these types of situations?

"What? You? I'm coming over -!" Then Ruby's voice a bit faint but still audible, "I'm coming too!"

"NO! I don't have hanahaki - though I have reason to believe Yang does."

Silence.

That was all that came over the line before Ruby's voice came over the phone, a calm, threatening tone Blake had never heard before.

"Blake Belladonna, you better have evidence to back up your suspicions, or so help me I _will_ hurt you."

Okay, thank goodness Ruby was giving her a chance to explain herself.

"Ruby, do you by any chance have in your shop a budding amaryllis lily?"

"Let me go check." After the door clicked open and shut, Weiss' voice came over the line.

"Blake, are you sure? This can't be fluke like last time, you're really hurting Ruby even though you can't see her. She's crying right now, the idea is terrifying to her."

"Okay, so Weiss, remember how earlier at the brunch Yang kept excusing herself to go to the restroom? So one of those times, an amaryllis lily bud fell out of her hair. I picked it up, and afterwards I asked her to drop me off at home, and when she did, I gave her a hug as thanks and she started coughing. I gave her pats on the back and she spit a bit. She spit out a amaryllis bud on the floor. I have that bud."

Silence. Blake forced herself to continue with her routine and finally rid herself of her skirt, quickly putting it in her hamper and and taking off her blouse and after ridding herself of her brassiere, slipped into her black slip and sat on her bed.

"Weiss I'm scared, I can't, I just can't!"

Blake let out a small cry and missed the sound of the door clicking shut that came over the line.

Ruby had heard her, she'd been standing in the doorway and Blake had no idea but Ruby knew she was right. She didn't deal with lilies often unless someone asked her to include them. They were fragile flowers, delicate. But if cared for properly, they could last.

She sat down next to Weiss who jumped and looked at her sadly. Ruby spared her the pain of repeating what Blake had said and just fell into the older woman's arms mumbling "I know, I heard her." After a few seconds of sniffling, she grabbed the phone and spoke.

"Blake, I rarely dabble with lilies, and I don't have a single amaryllis lily in my shop or apartment right now."

A choked sob was heard before the phone call abruptly ended and Weiss tilted Ruby's head up to look at her.

"Listen to me. I know you're falling apart right now, but you need to pull yourself together. I need to go check on Blake before she does something incredibly dumb just because she's terrified out of her wits. And you need to check around your apartment for any traces of amaryllis. Yang will most likely place it near a similar flower, knowing the trash can is too obvious. Go. You're a strong woman, I'll be back in an hour and a half okay baby? We're not brushing this off. And I know you care for her very much, and I swear I will be with you every step of the way."

Weiss placed a long kiss on Ruby's forehead and then another long one on her lips. Ruby blushed as dark as her namesake, and gave Weiss one last squeeze before letting her go.

"Please come back to me."

Weiss squeezed Ruby's hand before taking off her tiara and placed it in the woman's hands before closing her fingers around it.

"I give this to you as my promise that I'll come back. I won't be gone long, you won't have to try and be strong alone. I'll help you. I'll call Lie and Nora to go over and stay with her tonight. They'll understand. Yang came in a while ago so while I'm gone, check the apartment to see if there are any traces of amaryllis."

Ruby nodded, a couple tears streaking down her face.

Weiss grabbed a random pair of shoes, her keys, and zipped out the door.

Ruby sat on the bed a few minutes longer, staring at Weiss' phone. She didn't want to believe it. She didn't want to think that her sister was dying and there was little they could do. She knew how stubborn Yang could be and knew the woman would refuse the surgery leaving her with one option. And since she didn't know who her sister loved, she couldn't even talk to them about it.

And they can't force the feelings, the disease would know and only double in force. She pulled Weiss' jacket around her and decided to do as she'd suggested, look around the apartment and see if she could find any traces of amaryllis. She wasn't entirely sure what type it was, all she really knew was that it was a lily.

She walked downstairs and into the half bath and checked the trash can and nothing. She walked to the hall closet and nothing. She traced her sisters steps from the front door up to her room. She went to the living room and checked around the couch and near the television.

And nothing.

She decided to stop by the kitchen on her way back to her room and grab a few things for the movie marathon that was sure to happen when Weiss came back so they could avoid talking about the issue at hand.

After picking out some drinks from the fridge, she made her way over to the pantry for some chips and cookies. She noticed a couple rose petals on the floor and made a mental not to stop running through her apartment with bouquets in progress. She was about to leave the kitchen when her foot kicked something across the floor.

She placed the snacks on the counter and kneeled down to see what she'd kicked. And there it was, in the space between the dishwasher and the floor.

A blood spotted amaryllis lily bud.


	3. chapter two

Blake was sitting on her bed, back to the headboard, knees pulled up to her chest and arms wrapped around - while sobs slipped past her lips and she struggled to breathe as she tried to contain them.

She refused to accept the fact that this was happening again. This was the main reason why she refused to go out and do other things that people did. Because she wasn't like other people. She had seen people die because of her, and she refused to have it happen again. That's why the main people she communicated with where already happily married to someone they would never fall out of love with.

But now here she was, in that same exact situation all over again.

She didn't want Yang to die. From what she'd learned in the past few months, Yang was a stubborn woman who would most likely refuse surgery, and she wasn't sure who it was Yang was experiencing unrequited love for.

Spots dotted her vision as she heard the faraway sound of the door opening and the alarm being deactivated. None of it registered though. All that she knew right now was that Yang had hanahaki disease and she was the most likely person.

She choked on her sob, trying to calm herself down knowing none of this was going to help Yang - none of her sobs were going to save her - but she just couldn't stop the tears streaming down her face. Why did things always have to go badly? Why couldn't she just be happy?

Why did everyone she cared about have to suffer?

Weiss was driving towards her home as fast as she could, hoping she'd get there soon. At least before Blake had a complete mental breakdown.

She tapped her dashboard screen to bring it to life, taking it out of the sleep mode it had been in. She drove up to a red light and quickly dialed Lie's number and placed it on speaker, just as the light turned green and she sped off. He picked up after three rings.

"Hello? Lie Ren spea-!" His voice was cut off by Nora yelling in the background "Who is it Renny?"

Weiss decided to greet Nora as well, and try and get them on their way since she had to get back to Ruby.

"Look Lie, Nora the reason I called is because I need you two to keep an eye on Blake for me. I need to get back to Ruby, but I can't leave Blake alone with her thoughts right now, they'll eat her alive, I don't want her to fall down the rabbit hole again I won't let her fa-!"

"Weiss."

"Yes?"

"We'll be there, but I need to know what's happened to her." Lie backed away from the phone to call out to his wife. "Nora, please grab our overnight bags and the first aid kit. We're going over to Blake and Weiss'."

"Lie, thank you so much, I know it's short notice but thank you so much for showing up."

Lie nodded for a couple seconds before he remembered Weiss couldn't see him and answered. "No problem Weiss. But we need to know what we're getting into. We need to see if we need to call Jaune and Pyrrha to come take care of Pancake and Raevynn or if they'll be alright for an hour or so. What's happened this time?"

This was the hard part. They'd all been friends for ages, so they'd seen Blake fall apart like this before, and the aftermath was catastrophic.

"Yang has hanahaki and it's Blake again."

Silence.

And then a soft "No," which Weiss thought sounded a bit like Nora, and a "We'll be there in fifteen," from Lie before the call abruptly ended.

Weiss pulled into her driveway, barely turning off her car and locking it as she ran up the front steps and struggled to tap in the code that would unlock the door. Finally, the door gave her the two beeps that signified it was open and she quickly walked inside, leaving the door ajar and over to the alarm panel and deactivated it before it went off and so Lie and Nora wouldn't have to do it over again to get inside. She dropped her keys in a ceramic bowl on the table by the hall closet and ran up the stairs as fast as she could without falling.

She slowed right outside Blake's door, hearing the woman's cries, which were few and far in between.

Maybe she was calming down, but Weiss knew she was most likely about to pass out. She composed herself as best she could before knocking on the door and stepping inside.

"Blake? I'm coming in, okay?"

Weiss' eyes darted to the bed and saw Blake curled up, tilting towards the side. She jumped on the bed and crawled over Blake's things to her and wrapped her in a hug, her hair beginning to fall out of her bun tail and onto her face. She hugged the ravenette close and rocked her back and forth, muttering consolations in her ear, rubbing her back and trying to get her to breathe normally and hoping Lie and Nora would arrive before Blake latched on.

She heard the thudding of steps coming up the stairs and called out tentatively "Lie? Nora?" registering the fact she did leave the door open and it could be anyone frankly.

The door creaked open and she was relieved to see Lie sticking his face in and nodded towards the distraught girl she was holding. Lie came over and started gently unwrapping Blake's arms from around Weiss and wrapping them around himself, getting situated and prepared to be there for a while. Weiss walked out and was halfway down the stair when she finally saw Nora, rocking Raevynn gently in her arms.

Weiss coughed lightly to get Nora's attention and the woman walked over holding her daughter.

"Sorry I brought her, Pyrrha and Jaune are on their way to come pick her up. We called them on our way over and told them to meet us here."

Weiss extended her pointer finger which the young child grasped happily in her small hand, making happy baby noises while her mother and "aunt" looked down at her proudly.

"She's a beauty isn't she?" Nora commented, a motherly look on her face Weiss hadn't seen before. If someone had told her five years ago the crazy ginger from the dorm across the hall could be tamed by a baby - more so her own, she would have rolled her eyes and asked them for the name of the drug they were on.

But here they were now.

Weiss did Nora's signature boop on the little girl's nose, and Raevynn let out a happy gurgle and smiled, her violet eyes shining.

"I know I was strict about my house but you guys are all family. Since the other two aren't here yet, tell them to bring a change of clothes and the four of you can stay here tonight. There's more than enough food in the fridge for you all, ingredients to make pancakes from scratch and all that. Also, please, keep Blake in sight. Just...whatever happens, don't leave her alone, okay?"

Nora nodded, reaching for her phone to make the phone call.

"Can you hold Raevynn while I make the call? Thank you so much Weiss!"

Nora carefully placed the little baby in Weiss' arms and moved away from the two, lest the baby pick up on her panic and it inspire her own.

Weiss bounced Raevynn in her arms, wondering if there was ever an opportunity for her to adopt her own. Being a lesbian and all, she could provide a better home for children that needed it. Also, it was a bit much to deal with the process of combining two female embryos. Then there's the question is her gem would even want children...

But first of all she had to propose.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when Raevynn got her hands on a piece of hair that had fallen in front of her face and started tugging on it. Luckily, the piece was too short for her to put it in her mouth, but that didn't stop her from yanking on it to her little hearts delight. Around that time Nora came back over from the call and sighed.

"They'll be here in seven. Luckily they live close by. When did you discover Yang had hanahaki and Blake was her unrequited love?"

"About an hour ago. Speaking of, I need to go, I left Ruby worried and my phone with her so she can't even call. Please take care of Blake, Ruby and I will stop by tomorrow morning!" Weiss gave Nora a side hug and Raevynn a little peck on the forehead. She made her way to the front do, picking up her keys from the bowl on the table by the hall closet and ran outside to her car. She turned it on and sped out, only buckling her seatbelt once she'd reached a red light. She did her best to follow the rules of the road, but all she wanted to do at the moment was hold her gem close and comfort her.

She knew the thoughts running through her head, she'd been in her shoes before, losing a family member to the disease. She didn't want her to go through it alone. This was a burden no one should have to bear, but some inevitably would have to.

She haphazardly parked her car next to Ruby's, doing her best not to hit the brunettes car in her exit from her own. Inside she went, and up the stairs in the back of the shop and down the hall into Ruby's room.

Her heart went out to the woman.

Ruby sat on the edge of her bed, her hands cupping a small object. Weiss walked closer and she finally saw what Ruby was holding.

A small, blood spotted amaryllis lily bud.

"Ruby..."

The woman looked at her and Weiss opened her arms, ready to envelop her in a hug. Ruby's eyes were shining with unshed tears. She dropped the bud and ran over to Weiss, hugging her close and starting to cry.

"This is hers, it has to be...it's not mine, and it was by the dishwasher."

Weiss nodded and guided the woman back towards her bed. After sitting her on the edge, she sat with her back to the headboard and opened her arms for Ruby to join her.

Her gem happily complied.

And so they both sat there and cried.

Pyrrha and Jaune were gathering themselves when Nora called the second time and asked them to bring a change since they were all going to crash at Weiss and Blake's home.

Jaune turned around and told Pyrrha they'd be there in seven and Pyrrha relayed the message right before Nora hung up the phone.

"This is not good. This is like Adam all over again."

Jaune clasped his wife's hand and squeezed. He pulled up again into his driveway and Pyrrha opened the door to get out the car and Jaune pulled her back in.

"Hey, just like we helped her get over that, we'll help this time. But the difference will be that Yang will survive."

Pyrrha looked doubtful at Jaune's words, so he added on, "I swear by the gods, Pyr. This time will be different. This time there will be no death."

Pyrrha leaned in and gave Jaune a quick kiss before running inside their home and grabbing random pajamas and stuffing them in a bag. After throwing the bag in the backseat, they were on their way again.

"How do you think Ruby's handling it? What does it feel like?"

Pyrrha leaned back as she looked at her husband expectantly, knowing he knew the answer as the same thing had happened with his sister Saphron when she had hanahaki over Terra. Luckily, Terra accepted Saph's feelings and Saphron recovered well, though she doesn't do good with prolonged exertion, since her lungs are delicate. She survived a long time, longer than most since the flowers she coughed up daffodils, a soft, small flower.

Jaune hesitated a little bit longer before he finally answered.

"It's fucking hell."

Pyrrha stared at him, watching as his grip tightened on the steering wheel and his eyes watered.

"Jaune, I overst-!"

"Pyrrha, you did nothing wrong and you've been trying to help me ever since we found out Saph had hanahaki while we were dating. It's about time I talked about it instead of letting it fester."

Pyrrha couldn't help but smile a little at seeing her husband open up about something that had hit home for him. Something that was slowly eating him away from the inside out.

"It's absolute shit watching someone you love and hold dear waste away in front of you. It's a living hell watching them hurt and knowing there's no medicine that will make it all go away. No matter how much you may want to, you can't take her pain. Few people sympathize with you." He paused here, sighing deeply as silent tears streamed down his face.

"And then there's the hate you can't help towards the person they love, knowing it's both their fault and not their fault for your loved ones condition, but you can't make them fall in love. They have to do that on their own. If one tries to force a relationship to save someone, hanahaki only attacks worse. The more the affected is around their love, the more flowers they hack up, the more flowers sprout. The plant grows larger while they grow weaker."

They pulled into Weiss and Blake's driveway and exited the car while Weiss entered her car. They sent each other a small wave as she drove away, an underlying sense of urgency to her manner of driving.

Pyrrha and Jaune moved inside and dropped their keys in the bowl on the table by the hall closet and rounded the corner to find Nora desperately trying to get Raevynn to fall asleep, singing her favorite song over and over. Her head snapped up and she smiled tiredly when she saw them.

"Thank the gods you're here! Blake hasn't calmed enough to take Rae in there and in her state I'm worried she'll hurt or scare her."

Pyrrha stepped forward and carefully took the baby from Nora. Jaune gave his wife's shoulder a small squeeze, gave Nora a hug and a small kiss on the cheek and made his way to the kitchen, calling over his shoulder about making dinner for everyone.

Nora gave Pyrrha a side hug and kissed her on the cheek. Pyrrha returned the hug and both friends stood there contemplating the many situations around them.

"Do you think she'll make it?"

Pyrrha almost answered Nora's sudden question when another voice responded and she jumped, startled by Lie's sudden appearance. She'd gotten used to his silent appearances and disappearances when the four of them lived together, but the habit of expecting him had grown surprisingly rusty.

"I...I'm not sure. I've never seen quite this bad while the affected party was still alive."

"Who's with her now?"

"Jaune. He sent me down here to make pancakes and said he'd take a shift. At least she's not hyperventilating anymore. Come now, let's sit in the kitchen. Do you need help with the baby, Pyr?"

"No, I'm good, she's almost asleep, she needed something to hold onto." The little girl had a lock of Pyrrha's hair firmly wrapped around her little hands, her tightly fisted hands slowly relaxing as she fell asleep gradually.

"Alright, I've taken the crib Weiss has and placed it in the room across from Blake. Who's hungry?"

Nora whisper-yelled "Me!" and bounced over in her usual way towards her husband. Jaune stuck his head back in the kitchen and held up two fingers and Pyrrha nodded, getting the message that he was going to the restroom. Pyrrha smiled at the family dynamic between the two by the stove. While they were distracted she decided to go upstairs and keep an eye on Blake, knowing she couldn't be trusted alone and Weiss would strangle them all if something happened to her.

She knocked on the door before pushing it open and gasping.

Blake was curled up facing the door, her eyes unfocused but tears streaming nonetheless. She was clutching a pillow to her chest as if in extreme pain.

Pyrrha walked over and crouched down to the woman's eye level, and saw her eyes snap in her direction. She sat down on the edge of the bed and started singing softly, hoping to bring the girl out of her stupor.

"Does anyone really know, how to love? Does anyone really feel, what they dreamt of?"

Blake sat up and looked in Pyrrha's direction, unsure of what her intentions where, but then her eyes landed on the little girl who was now awake and squirming in Pyrrha's arms. She tentatively reached out and gave Raevynn her pointer finger and the girl grabbed it tightly with her little hands, immediately bringing it to her mouth and trying to bite it, but she had no teeth, so all Blake felt were her gums putting a bit of pressure on her finger. Pyrrha watched the interaction out of the corner of her eye, a bit unsure if Blake would harm the child, but also happy the woman was coming back to her senses after she'd taken a plunge into her own mind.

She decided to keep singing, hoping the tune would make Blake remember, knowing exactly what the song meant to the ravenette.

"Or is it all a puzzle maze, but we never really walk out the other side?"

Pyrrha slowly rotated to she could face Blake, trying not to startle her or Raevynn, but still made Blake retreat. When she removed her finger from the baby's, her face scrunched up as if she was about to cry, and Pyrrha made the split second decision to hand the baby to Blake.

She continued singing softly and doing her best to calm the woman, who was now slightly panicked by the sudden pass of the baby to her arms. Raevynn giggled happily and Blake gave Rae her mother's signature 'boop' which made her burst into a fit of giggles.

"We go round and round and round, taking wrong turns and clinging to the edges, of ourselves."

Raevynn grasped the lace around the neckline of the slip that she was wearing and tugged on it, her determined expression bringing a small smile to Blake's face. Pyrrha wanted to hug her, but she knew the woman hadn't completely come to yet.

"What is this thing we call love?

What is this thing I've dreamt of?

What is this thing with such a rush?

What is this thing we call love?"

Blake sniffled, the words having their intended effect. Her mind swam with the memories the song brought to the forefront of their mind. Specifically, the message someone she'd cared for deeply had attached to it. She sang the two lines from the bridge and a tear fell down her face.

"What is love,

Oh, what is love?"

She couldn't bring herself to finish the song, and Pyrrha didn't continue it. At the moment all that mattered was the little baby in her hands and getting her to go to sleep and stay asleep. She bounced the baby while humming the rest of the song and watched as Raevynn's little amethyst eyes slowly closed and her breathing gained a steady rhythm. Blake moved to hand her back to Pyrrha, but the woman refused.

"Come downstairs with me. Lie's making his famous pancakes, and Nora would like to discover where I've been with her daughter. Let's put her in her crib, okay?"

Blake nodded and slid off the bed and was halfway to the door before she turned back towards Pyrrha.

"Wait, the four of you are here?"

Pyrrha nodded, slightly confused with what that had to do with anything.

"That's amazing! I haven't seen you all in ages! At least since your wedding." the woman said, continuing in her original mission of putting the infant to bed, walking out of her room and calling over her shoulder to the stunned redhead behind her. The switch was expected, but still surprising. Maybe once they were downstairs Pyrrha could - with Lie's help - get Blake to confront her feelings and the situation instead of burying them. Blake then paused in the hallway, then turned back to Pyrrha.

"Ah, in which room is the crib set up?"

Pyrrha collected herself and pointed to the room across the hall. Blake opened the door and walked in, humming quietly still. She placed a quick kiss on Raevynn's head and set her down in the crib, muttering something softly under her breath that Pyrrha couldn't quite catch.

She came back out of the room and walked back into hers, heading towards her drawers and opening one and rummagin around for a bit before pulling out a pair of battered sweats Pyrrha immediately recognized and burst into laughter at.

"You still have those? I would have thought Weiss would have made you throw them out by now!"

"Nah, she still has hers in fact. She actually wears it from time to time, granted it's usually a sign she's on her period and wants to do absolutely nothing whatsoever, but she still has them. Hey, can you please help me put my hair in a high pony tail?"

Pyrrha nodded and Blake handed her a grey scrunchie and allowed the other woman to do as she pleased. After finishing, she tilted Blake's head to the side to inspect her handiwork, and after nodding in approval, she patted the top of her head to tell Blake she was done.

Pyrrha's gaze drifted towards the sweats again and she couldn't stop a grin as she observed each splatter and remembered its origin. The sweats had paint all over them and were a couple sizes too large for the woman, even after a few years. She slipped them on and turned back to her drawers, closing the open one and opening another and pulling out a brassiere and taking off the slip she was wearing. Pyrrha moved towards the door and leaned on it, facing away from the woman as she changed. Seeing Blake's scars even after all these years made her emotional, and brought back memories that were best left buried.

She felt a small tap on her shoulder and turned back towards Blake, who was now wearing a baggy shirt she'd cropped, but seeing as the shirt was oversized one couldn't really tell unless she raised her hands above her head, so her scar was hidden from view. She eyed Pyrrha knowingly, and wrapped her arms around the woman, knowing exactly which thoughts were running through her head at the moment.

"It wasn't your fault. You did everything you could, and you helped me so much afterward."

Pyrrha hugged her back, and then pulled away.

"Come on, let's get something to eat before Nora eats it all."

They both giggled at that before making their way down the stairs, both going back and forth, bringing up different occasions on where Nora had eaten all the food that had been set aside for whatever event they were at.

The three in the kitchen turned quickly at the sound of the voices, smiles and grins breaking out as they rushed out into the hallway to meet them.

Blake struggled to keep her balance when the very same ginger she and Pyrrha had been discussing jumped on her and started babbling nonesense, while her husband patted her on the back and did his best to pry her off.

Then Jaune came along and joined the hug and Blake couldn't stay upright any longer and promptly fell over.

Lie and Pyrrha both flinched when they heard the resounding 'crack' as the trio hit the floor, but before either could react, Nora had burst into a fit of giggles and Jaune was kneeling beside Blake, her eyes closed, shaking her shoulder and asking her if she was okay, if he hadn't hurt her.

Then she opened her eyes and tried to sit up and nearly collided with Jaune who scrambled back, knocking Pyrrha over when he tried to stop her fall, and Pyrrha grabbed Lie's arm in an atempt to stop her fall but just succeded in making them both fall.

There were a few tense seonds of silence as they all stared at each other before they all burst into a fit of giggles and helped each other up off the floor. The group of friends made their way to the kitchen where Lie had made several batches of pancakes, a plate of half finished pancakes doused in syrup on the breakfast counter.

"Did Raevynn finally fall asleep?" Lie asked as he made his way back to his mixing bowl, stirring up another batch as Nora polished off the one she'd already started and moved on to the next.

"Yeah," Blake replied as she grabbed a plate of her own and served herself a healthy serving of pancakes and drizzled syrup all over them before digging in with a fork and knife.

Lie gave Pyrrha a look, asking if she'd confronted or coddled her. Pyrrha sent the look back, which said she'd done neither, she'd just flipped. Lie looked confused, then turned to Jaune.

"How was it?"

Jaune paused in his eating and looked puzzled, so Pyrrha tilted her head towards Blake. He understood and took a bite of his pancakes while he thought if a way to phrase it.

"Scary. Seemed broken, but was calm and reasonably collected but dead." Pyrrha nodded in agreement, confirming that was the state she'd found her in.

Lie pouted and Nora turned to look at Blake, who seemed unaware of what had just transpired. Nora opened her mouth to speak but Lie held out her hand to stop her.

"Let her eat first." he mouthed, while turning back and flipping his pancake that was now kinda toasty.

Everyone dug into their plates and finished eating their pancake dinner quietly, JNPR trying to decide how to broach the subject they were here for without causing her to crash again.

After Jaune picked up everyones plates and utensils and stuck them in the dishwasher, they all sat around the island in a comfortable silence.

And then he spoke up.

"You know why we're all here, right Blake?"

The woman looked up sadly, but nodded nonetheless. Nora came up behind her and gave her a hug, whispering things such as "It's okay," and "You got this, you know it's better if you just spit it out."

Blake looked right at them and then proceeded to shock them all.

"Yang has hanahaki and it's all my fault."

That was a first. But hey, Lie was glad they were making headway. Last time getting her to admit the other person had hanahaki was difficult enough.

"And why are you so sure it's your fault Blake? Maybe she's in love with someone else."

No one missed the way Blake recoiled at the mention of Yang being in love with someone else. Each one looked at their partner while a sense of dread made itself known and at home in each stomach.

The ravenette composed herself and pulled out her phone and sent an image to the group chat she had with them. Their phones dinged and they each pulled them out after she pointed at her phone then at them.

They opened the image, really unsure of what to expect, and Lie was the first to finish reading the article and dropped his phone onto the counter and ran around the island to envelop Blake in a tight hug. The other three make quick work of the article and joined the hug, everyone doing their best for the woman.

It really wasn't fair. She was a good person, she didn't mean to, and then there was the fear that everything everybody had done over the years could be reversed at the drop of a flower.

Weiss held the sobbing woman close, doing her absolute best to calm her down, using all the tips and tricks she'd learned with Blake over the years to at least keep Ruby from hyperventilating.

"She's an honest person!"

"Gem, I know."

"She didn't deserve this!"

"No one who gets hanahaki deserves it. It's terrible and should be eradicated. But the consequences of the known cures are love, death, or sociopathy and you know it."

"It's all Blake's fault then! Why'd she have to meet Yang, why'd she have to make my sister fall in love with her and then just leave her like that!"

Weiss tried to steel herself, knowing Ruby was just angry, she didn't really mean what she said -

"Don't ever speak of Blake that way. I know you're mad, and you want to blame someone - something - but do not, I repeat, do not blame Blake. You don't know her that well. You don't know what she's been through. You don't understand how much she's suffering as well. Be mad all you want, but I ask one thing. Do not blame my best friend. She's not guilty for just being herself."

Weiss almost snarled out the last sentence, but managed to keep herself composed and her voice steady. Ruby was staring up at her, her eyes watering but Weiss didn't shake on her point.

"That woman helped me through the darkest points in my life, and I intend to help her through hers. Ruby, I love you to bits, and I intend to help you help your sister, and I will also help Blake. I can't- I won't- let anyone else die."

Weiss felt her own eyes water and tried to blink away the tears but instead felt Ruby's arms around her neck.

"Weiss, I'm sorry. I didn't, I mean, she's your sister, just as much as Yang is mine. We'll get through this one too. Together now."

Weiss smiled at her, her spirits lifted slightly.

"Okay, let's figure out some basics. How much time does Yang have?"

"The type of flower is sturdy but delicate. Going by the size and shape of the bud, and her own stubborn hardheaded self, about a year and a half before surgery is her only option."

Weiss nodded, making mental note to check on her. Ruby leaned across the bed and grabbed her tablet from the bedside table, looking up a few different things and taking notes on all of them.

Ruby turned her tablet in Weiss' direction and she leaned forward to read what the brunette had written.

"Amaryllis lily - size, medium, texture, smooth, harm, minimal. Unless the plant itself grows too large. Chances of long term survival - ? Side note, check if amaryllis is the only flower being coughed up. Check for jealousy, anger or poison flowers."

"That's a good list Ruby. Now, I need you to put this down and come watch a movie with me." Ruby made a face and was about to comment when Weiss placed a finger over her lips. "Yes, I understand that you want to help your sister, and I want to help mine. But you need to relax, and stressing yourself sick isn't going to help her. Maybe you can look at this from a different point of view afterward okay? Also you need to eat, your stomach has been yelling for the past few minutes."

Ruby chuckled and slid off the bed and stretched out her hand towards Weiss.

"Well then milady. Shall we dine?"

Weiss bit her lower lip to refrain from laughing and keep up the facade.

"We shall."


End file.
